Hello and welcome to this Story Grid podcast. This is a show dedicated to helping you become a better

writer. I'm your host Tim Graal and I am a struggling writer trying to figure out how to tell a

story that works. Joining me shortly as Sean Coyne. He is the creator of Story Grid, the author

of the book Story Grid and an editor with over 25 years experience.

In this episode, we continue down the path of my middle build. We talk about game theory,

we talk about character versus plotting, and how to continue to keep moving that middle

build until you can get to the ending payoff.

So I think you're really going to enjoy it.

Let's jump in and get started.

So Sean, we're now, I should probably do a recap.

So we're working our way through the middle build.

We're, I'm guessing, a little over halfway.

And it's all been kind of building towards this moment where she meets

her brother and finds him for the first time. So this was one of those sequences that, because I think

it's the fifth sequence now in the middle build. So beginning hook and then the middle build.

And this was one of those that I was just nervous to write because it was like so much

was leading up to it.

So I wanted to kind of pair it.

I wanted to make several things happen in it.

So the first is you gave me the idea a couple

weeks ago of like her basically figuring out that 83 from the number and in the beginning hook,

that woman was in the capital at one point. And so I did a where they were basically showing a video of past participants in the

...